The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Ipomoea plant botanically known as Ipomoea batatas and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balspotbart’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Arroyo Grande, Calif. during October 2014. The objective of the breeding program was the development of ornamental Ipomoea cultivars with heart-shaped leaves, and a well-branched, mounded growth habit with good garden performance under high night temperatures.
The new ornamental Ipomoea cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is ‘Venetian Mask’, unpatented, characterized by its dark purple-colored foliage and vigorous, mounded-spreading growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Purple’, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 18,573, characterized by its small to medium-sized, heart-shaped to spade-shaped dark purple-colored foliage and compact to moderately compact, mounded-spreading growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during April 2015 in a controlled environment in Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since April 2015 in Arroyo Grande, Calif., and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.